Challenge

El Monumental
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Ilija Skugor showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Bruno Oxarra, who was totally free with the ball in the 3rd minute. Eric Târban succeeded to score despite a near miss that spronge from right pole into the goal to 1-0 in the 4th playminute. After 8 played minutes Croatia got a freekick which was hit by Damir Pongrac. Ilija Skugor made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Niki Lauda in the 8th minute of play. After 9 played minutes Croatia got a freekick which was hit by Benjamin Domazet. In the 10th minute Niki Lauda shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ilija Skugor saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Croatia's Ilija Skugor played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Niki Lauda in the 12th minute of play. When Giovanni Lenhardt fell near the penalty area in the 13th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored RIVER's protests and gave Giovanni Lenhardt a yellow card for diving instead. Croatia made a substitution. Marin Jerkovic replaced Neven Culina. In the 19th minute, Eric Târban made a precise shot to the right of Ilija Skugor. Croatia's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 2-0. 22 minutes into the match, Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Niki Lauda came free, but Ilija Skugor reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Ilija Skugor showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Niki Lauda, who was totally free with the ball in the 24th minute. 30 minutes into the match, Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Niki Lauda came free, but Ilija Skugor reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 32nd minute, RIVER's Wu Li Zhi dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 4-0. Ilija Skugor made an important save on a dangerous shot by Eric Târban in the 43rd minute. 44 minutes into the match, Croatia's goal looked a bit too open when Fidel Gora came free, but Ilija Skugor reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Croatia's Ilija Skugor played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Niki Lauda in the 46th minute of play. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 4-0.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Niki Lauda was the one to do the kick off. Niki Lauda scored 5-0 in the 52nd match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Ilija Skugor, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. In the 60th minute, Croatia's Benjamin Domazet seemed to kick out at an opponent. The referee saw this and, surprisingly, showed Benjamin Domazet the red card, dismissing him from the pitch. The coaching staff of Croatia protested bitterly, but the referee would have none of it, and Benjamin Domazet had no choice but to slowly walk off the pitch. After 59 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Croatia! In the 62nd minute there was a penalty for RIVER. Niki Lauda stepped forward and shot the ball to the right of a diving Ilija Skugor. 6-0. After a defensive mix-up in Croatia's zone, Eric Târban stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Ilija Skugor came out of the goal and Eric Târban tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Ilija Skugor showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Niki Lauda, who was totally free with the ball in the 66th minute. Ilija Skugor took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Niki Lauda, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The audience was convinced that Niki Lauda's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Ilija Skugor was relentless in the 69th minute of the game. Ilija Skugor made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Niki Lauda in the 73rd minute of play. Niki Lauda might have been able to make a better finish in the 76th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Ilija Skugor. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Niki Lauda ran back to his position shaking his head. Ilija Skugor showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Fidel Gora, who was totally free with the ball in the 77th minute. After a rather tough play, Croatia's Silvije Santek got a free kick in the 78th minute. After 79 played minutes Croatia got a freekick which was hit by Silvije Santek. After 80 played minutes, RIVER's Domingo Remigio shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Ilija Skugor came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in RIVER reached it. Ilija Skugor made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Niki Lauda in the 83rd minute of play. In the 84th minute, Niki Lauda ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Ilija Skugor was frozen by the shot and now it was 7-0. Croatia's Ilija Skugor played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Eric Târban in the 87th minute of play. Niki Lauda took the ball and in the 88 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Ilija Skugor. Ilija Skugor dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 8-0. Niki Lauda took the ball and in the 91 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Ilija Skugor. Ilija Skugor dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 9-0. RIVER's Wu Li Zhi quite brazenly broke a throw-in by Silvije Santek, made in the 95th minute of the game. In the 98th minute, Eric Târban got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. When the referee ended the match the RIVER players were able to celebrate. They had won a fair victory and recieved the ovations of their fans.